Valentine, Please be Mine
by Zeplerfer
Summary: If anyone asked, Arthur would adamantly deny that he watched any of those silly soul mate clock reality shows. But even he couldn't resist watching the handsome American on the show featuring gay men from across the world with timers that were all set for the same date as Arthur's—Valentine's Day. USUK.


_[A/N: The soul mate clocks in this story count down to a date, not a specific time. I just wanted to make that extra clear because most stories use a different version.]_

As he did the dishes, Arthur watched the television screen out of the corner of his eye. If anyone asked, he would adamantly deny that he watched any of those silly soul mate clock reality shows. It was a ridiculous idea to take two dozen people whose timers were scheduled to go off on the same day and then put them in separate rooms were they could chat with each other by phone and text while the audience made bets about who would end up with whom. He didn't understand why anyone would watch as sexual tensions built to a boiling point and the show's participants all eagerly awaited the big moment when they would finally meet each other in person. It even had a stupid tag line. "Countdown to Love! The one show where everyone is a winner!"

Arthur had absolutely zero interest in that sort of twaddle and nonsense. It was best to focus on obtaining his goals and trust that his soul mate would show up on the appointed day. He had no desire to watch the silly realities shows... with one exception.

_This_ particular show featured gay men from across the world and their timers were all set for the same date as Arthur's—Valentine's Day. His friends and coworkers had urged him to apply, but Arthur declined. He told them that he was at an important stage in his nursing residency. Truthfully, he just didn't want to have his unusual eyebrows, prickly personality, and chosen career become the butt of jokes on late night television.

And now he regretted his choice because he had to watch a handsome, kind man named Alfred flirt with all of the other contestants. Even though he was an American, he was _perfect_. His smile brightened the room, his boisterous laugh made Arthur want to laugh too, and his abs were so amazing they could double as a cheese grater. Yes, he could be childish and oblivious, but he was so sweetly romantic that Arthur didn't care.

When Alfred appeared on the screen, Arthur left the last of the dishes in the sink and walked over to the couch. He stared at the screen and sighed longingly.

"Are you excited for tomorrow?" the host asked as she sat down for one last interview with the handsome American.

He flashed his sparkling grin. "You better believe it!"

"Good! I hope you've enjoyed your time here."

"Oh, I totally have! Everyone on this show has been really great. And it's so cool to actually get to know people who might be the one. I think this is what dating must have been like."

"Well, I think dating usually involved more face-to-face meetings, but we couldn't have those for obvious reasons. So... any thoughts on who you'd like to end up with?"

Alfred paused and a more thoughtful look crossed his face. "I dunno. Me and Kiku have a lot in common and I feel like we could spend hours just hanging out together. I think it's good to be friends. But Lovino is hilarious and I love that he doesn't take shit from anyone. A guy like that would always keep you on your toes. Gilbert is smart and he has the most kick-ass stories. And Mattie..." His smile softened. "He's the best."

"Thank you, Alfred. Whoever you end up with, I'm sure you'll be very happy," the host said with a winning smile. As soon as Alfred left the room, she turned to face the camera. "Now is the time to place your bets on Alfred F. Jones! Will it be the quiet Japanese man? The feisty Italian? Or the German who's so delusional he thinks that he's Prussian?" The woman paused for a second. "Wait, am I forgetting someone?"

Arthur turned off the television and slumped backward with a sigh.

"You watching Countdown again?" his flatmate Afonso asked as he padded into their small living room.

"No," Arthur lied.

Afonso's smile widened as he plopped onto the couch next to Arthur. "Then I suppose you won't be interested to know that I got a ticket to the finale."

"What?" Arthur gasped as he sat bolt upright.

"Yeah, my brother jumped through hoops of fire to get them. You know how much he's in love with the one with the dirty mouth," Afonso said with an amused shake of his head. "Anyway, he ended up with an extra and gave it to me." He wrinkled his nose. "Not that I really want to be there to see Toni make a fool of himself."

Arthur's heart raced and he stared at the blank screen like it was the most enthralling object in the world. If _he_ was in the audience when the timers went off, then maybe...

"It seems a pity to go when my timer still has three more years," Afonso added casually.

"I..." Arthur opened his mouth to offer to take the ticket off his flatmate's hands and then closed it just as quickly. What was he _thinking_? There was no way he could just show up and steal Alfred's heart. Instead, he would have to feel his own heart break as he watched the American fall in love within someone else. Even worse, Arthur's own soul mate would probably realize that he was pining for someone else. It was a terrible way to start a new relationship. "I can't," he said, his voice hoarse. "I'm scheduled to work in the ER tomorrow."

Afonso arched an eyebrow. "You're working on your soul mate day? What if you end up with someone who is sick and dying?"

"Then it was meant to be," Arthur snapped, even though he had worried the same thing himself. It did happen. It usually became a plot line for tragic books and movies. But as much as Afonso pushed, Arthur refused to take the ticket. There was no way he was actually Alfred's soul mate and he couldn't bear to watch as the American found love with someone else. He would much rather have his work to distract him.

The depressing worry that his soul mate was sick and dying followed Arthur throughout the day as he rushed from patient to patient, worrying each time that his timer would start to go off. He was so focused on his concerns that he didn't even notice the people with cameras in the ER until he almost ran into one.

"What do you think you're doing?" Arthur demanded, shoving the camera to the side. "This is a _hospital_ you idiots, get these cameras out of here!"

Only then did he notice the person at the center of attention. It was Alfred. In person. It was actually him! Sure, he looked a little pale as he held his arm against his chest, but that didn't stop him from smiling and chatting with the well-wishers who came over to talk to him. Arthur's heart fluttered and he froze in the middle of the room.

As the people in the emergency room hustled and bustled about, Alfred happened to glance up at Arthur. The moment he did, Arthur heard a ringing in his ear. Over the sound of all the beeping noises in a hospital, it took a moment for him to realize that the noise wasn't just in his ear. It was the sound of his soul mate timer.

"Oh my god," Arthur murmured, barely noticing as the room quieted and the cameras turned to face him. Walking on stiff legs, he approached Alfred, who sat gaping up at him like a fish out of water. Completely out of his depth, Arthur cleared his throat and tried to treat Alfred like another patient. "What happened to your arm?" he asked.

The American chuckled in embarrassment. "I wanted to make a cool entrance, so I was trying to slide down the stairs on an ironing board. It was harder than I thought."

"You _what_?" Arthur demanded as his eyebrows jumped to the top of his forehead. "What kind of idiot are you?"

"Hey, it turned out all right! I mean, this way I got to meet you."

"Well, you ought to be more careful," Arthur retorted, trying to maintain his steely gaze as he felt his heart turn to mush. He wanted to hug Alfred and kiss Alfred and do all sorts of things that wouldn't be appropriate in front of a national audience. "We'd better get that arm taken care of," he said, keeping a professional tone as the cameras rolled.

"Yeah." Alfred looked a little worried. "Uh... your timer did just go off, right?"

"Mmm-hmm." Arthur nodded, suddenly feeling a little woozy at the thought of being the one to set Alfred's arm back in place. He didn't want to see the young man in more pain, even if it _was_ his fault for being a ridiculous fool. "I'll get someone to take care of that," he said, leaving Alfred flabbergasted as he slipped out of the emergency room.

Unable to hear Alfred calling for him over the sound of his own pounding heart, Arthur quickly found the first available doctor and asked her to handle Alfred's arm without explaining the reason why. He was extremely grateful when Emma agreed.

Too worried to keep working, Arthur called the security guards to get rid of the cameras and spent the next half hour pacing outside of the emergency treatment room. His thoughts kept racing in circles, unable to handle the idea that he had actually met his soul mate. It had to be some sort of mistake, but each time he glanced down at his timer, the lights flashed the happy pink glow reserved for those who had met the love of their life. Arthur's head whipped to the side when he heard the door finally open.

"Are you okay, Arthur? You look like you're about to have kittens," Emma said, giving him a worried glance as she stepped out of the room.

"I'm fine. Thank you for handling it."

"Oh, it wasn't a problem," she replied. She readjusted the ribbon holding her hair back from her face, then shook her head and sighed. "Poor boy. I think the broken arm is the least of his worries."

Arthur felt his heart drop. "What do you mean?"

"His soul mate ran off without giving him a name. He wanted to race around the hospital to find him. I practically had to strap him to the bed to realign his arm."

"Oh." Arthur blinked. "That's... not good." He flushed in embarrassment as he realized that he _had_ done a runner without explaining himself. He'd been so worried about Alfred's arm that he hadn't really considered what the other man would think of his disappearance. Arthur had never been very good at lovey-dovey romance, although in his defense, it wasn't like anyone practiced much after the invention of soul mate timers.

Realization slowly crossed Emma's face. "Arthur, it's you isn't it?"

"Uhh..."

"Well, I've fixed the arm, now you better go fix that broken heart," she said as she nudged him into the treatment room. He found himself face-to-face with Alfred. After a moment of shocked silence, the American jumped up and enveloped him in a one-armed hug.

"You came back!" Alfred shouted gleefully as he squeezed the air out of Arthur's lungs. Or maybe it just felt hard to breathe because of the way his heart kept pounding against his ribcage. It was a dizzy, amazing feeling, like he was drinking fizzy champagne. Just when he thought his knees would give out, the American finally pulled back and gave him a blinding smile. "My god, I was worried you didn't like me."

"Why would you think that?" Arthur gasped in shock.

"Well, you were there one moment and gone the next."

Arthur huffed. "I was going to come back!"

"You could have told _me_ that!"

"Well, next time I will!"

"Good!"

They stared at each other for a moment and Arthur felt a warm chuckle bubble up from his throat at the ridiculousness of it all. As he chuckled, Alfred joined in with his own boisterous laughter. Barely a half hour together and they'd already had their first fight and their first make-up. Arthur couldn't wait for every other first. Deciding to get started on the next one, he gave Alfred a meaningful look and leaned in for a passionate kiss. It was warm and magical and _perfect_. He wrapped an arm around Alfred's neck and decided to see if the second and third kisses would be just as heavenly.

They were. It was something Arthur had been waiting for his entire life and he hadn't even realized he wanted it until he had it.

When the two men finally pulled back for air, their hair and clothes were disheveled and Alfred gave him a dopey grin. "I'm so glad I broke my arm."

"You're an idiot," Arthur replied as his lips curved into a warm smile. "A handsome, kind, romantic idiot. And I'm sorry for scaring you... it was all a bit of a shock."

"Hey, no worries." Alfred beamed. "I'm sorry I didn't get you anything."

Arthur blinked. "For what?"

"For Valentine's Day!"

"Oh." Arthur leaned closer and kissed him again. He wasn't quite sappy enough to admit that Alfred had already given him the best present in the world. "Well, there's always next year."

* * *

For USUK Sweethearts Week 2015.


End file.
